Louisiana Sea Grant (LSG) recently completed a video demonstrating how to build an oyster nursery silo from a 55-gallon plastic drum. The demo can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcd6m6c51Gg&feature=youtu.be.

John Supan, an oyster specialist with Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter and the director of the Sea Grant Oyster Hatchery on Grand Isle, has been a leader in researching the techniques and feasibility of hatchery-based, off-bottom oyster culture in the state. He developed the 18-minute nursery construction video with the assistance of the LSG Communications Office. In the film, Supan shows the tools, supplies and techniques needed for the project and walks the viewer through the entire fabrication process. Supan also demonstrates how to construct a silo from a piece of pipe that fits inside the drum silo to contain the tiniest seed oysters until they are mature enough to place in the larger silo.